I just purchased an 861 V4.25 ex-demo and an HD621 switcher. I'm a happy camper! I couldn't afford a V6 but the V4.25 is so good that I don't even want to hear one as I'll just get spoiled :-)

Here's the dilemma.....

I have a friend who dabbles in used audio sales and he has an 800 DVD Player V2.8
He wants $2K for it but I think I could have it for even less.

A good deal, no doubt, but the question is this:

Given all that is available now (Arcam, Oppo, etc.) with HDMI capability, Blu-Ray with current surround codecs and all the rest -does it really make sense to buy the 800 for the benefit of that proprietary digital link? I listen to a lot of multi channel and the ability to use the 861's superb DAC's on multi channel music is a nice plus.

On the other hand....no SACD, no Blu-Ray, no HDMI for Video even. Essentially, I'm back to a "not truly Universal Player" and would have to use it for DVD-Audio and CD in conjuntion with an Oppo or something to carry the heavy lifting duties.

Just wondering whether that Meridian Link is a magic bullet that would make my $2K investment sound like I just bought a $25K CD and DVD Audio player. The "no jitter and no D-A-D conversion/re-conversion" seems (in theory) like it would be a MAJOR advantage.